Strive For Perfection
by Ct2191
Summary: Connie has a plan. She wants to put Holby City ED on the map but her staff aren't up to scratch. She decides to send them out to different hospitals in small groups to learn from the best EDs in the country, but things don't go as smoothly as she would have liked and her groupings create tension. This story will feature most of the current cast.
1. Chapter 1

What do you do when everything goes to hell? That's a question that Connie Beauchamp knows that answer to, at least when it comes to surgery. Even if there is a complication during the most demanding of operations, chances are she'd be able to fix it in the time it takes a lesser doctor to start babbling to the nearest nurse about calling his or her superior for assistance.

Her surgical skills were almost as fine tuned as her viper tongue, both honed by years of practice. She thought with both of these skills in her arsenal controlling the general day to day running of an ED would be simple, and as far as dealing with mountain upon mountain of paperwork it, so far, had proved to be exactly as she had expected. But her staff, on the other hand, were proving to be somewhat of an issue.

The disapproval of several members of her staff was getting so poignant Connie could almost smell it. Tess didn't like her forcing Charlie into retirement, and they weren't the only ones who had an issue. Most of the nursing staff and possibly a few of the doctors weren't fond of her for the same reason as Tess. It was making Connie's job difficult, but what was worse was that Connie was aware of the fact many of her staff were not performing at their best.

Cal and Ethan's rivalries, Robin and several of the other nurse's punctuality issues, Charlie's age, Lily's inability to empathise with patients and Tess' disapproval of many of Connie's methods were just a few of many reasons she was having issues streamlining and optimising the ED. There was no doubt that the ED was in better hands now that she was in control, but Connie had plans that went far beyond ensuring Holby ED was simply running smoothly and she didn't like the fact that she wasn't achieving all that she set out to do.

In one of the rare moments she had to herself, Connie spent her time looking out at her department from the door of her office. She could see the potential: Tess was one of the best sisters she had ever encountered, and she had encountered more than a few, Robin also had a certain flare for the job. Ethan is methodical, which sometimes makes him a little slower than his peers to come to a diagnosis, but he still had certain something that his speedy brother lacks.

Connie made a small sigh when she saw Charlie with a pile of notes at reception. He was a good nurse when on top form but it had been a while since she had witnessed that. After one last glance at the cubicles she turned and headed back into her office. There were plans to be made, along with a phone call to Guy Self.

_**Several hours later…**_

"Ah, Tess. Come in." Connie said, leaning back In her chair and plastering a pleasant, albeit fake, smile on her face.

"Connie there's only ten minutes left of my shift and I need to talk to Lofty before I go-"

"This will only take a moment." Connie said calmly.

Perfect. Exactly as Connie had planned. Tess was almost always at her busiest towards the end of her shift, and this meant that she had less processing time, or rather less time to disagree or refuse Connie's cunning scheme.

"Tess I've noticed that some of our staff haven't been performing as well as expected."

Tess frowned.

"In what way?" She asked after a brief silence.

"In every way. Rita's attendance, Robin's punctuality, Lily's people skills, Ethan's diagnosis speed… Need I go on?"

Tess didn't meet Connie's eyes when she next spoke, "Connie we're all under a lot of pressure, especially since were understaffed and there seems to be no end to the amount of time wasters that come through those doors on a daily basis. We are doing the best that we can given those circumstances."

"I disagree."

"You disagree?" Tess repeated with raised eyebrows.

"Yes. A recent poll suggests that out of the ten hospitals closest to this one, this ED's performance is about the worst. In fact we were second to the bottom in terms of waiting times and several other key areas."

"Like I just said, Connie, that can't be helped. We're under a lot of pressure-"

"Those issues are not unique to this hospital. Every NHS hospital in the country faces exactly the same stresses as us, and yet we are still ranked among the worst in this area. It's not good enough." Connie said bitterly.

"And what do you suggest we do about this?" Tess said in a way that made Connie think she was almost afraid to ask.

"I have arranged for our ED staff and ambulance crew to be sent to some of the most efficient NHS hospitals in the country in small groups. They will work with the staff in the Emergency departments these hospitals for a fortnight and then return here and hopefully put in place all that they have learnt. " Connie stated.

"We're already understaffed and you want to start taking more of my nurses out? Connie the ED won't cope! We're struggling as it is!" Tess exclaimed.

"I have already arranged the entire operation with our CEO, Mr Self. He will provide agency nurses and doctors to cover for those who have left, and we will be making use of neighbouring hospital's ambulance crews also. I will be announcing this to the staff tomorrow morning." Connie said firmly.

Tess nodded stiffly and walked out, shutting the door behind her. As she listened to what Tess mumbled just outside Connie distinctly heard something that sounded like 'come back Zoe, all is forgiven'.

Connie smiled. Tess didn't have to like her plan. She just had to go along with it. She didn't have any choice.

…

_**Thanks for reading! :)**_

_**I'm placing the last story I wrote, Explosions, on hiatus again- at least until I find the motivation to finish it. **_

_**I've written the second chapter also, and I'll post it in the next few days. **_


	2. Chapter 2

Robin stared, open mouthed. Lofty focused his gaze on his feet. Lily frowned. Ethan grimaced, while Cal smirked at his brother's expression. Dixie and Big Mac stared at each other and then back at Connie. Tess stared at the ceiling as though she was finding the light above her particularly interesting, at least more interesting than Connie's announcement.

Everything was going according to plan, at least in Connie's mind. She expected resistance, and had planned around a hundred responses to any and every question she could think of last night instead of sleeping, but silence worked better. If no one was challenging her it meant that they were all going to submit to her demands. Or so she thought.

"Does this _opportunity _include porters?" Max asked, with several of his colleagues nodding in agreement.

Connie turned to face him before replying, "Yes. You will be heading out with some of the nurses and learning from head porters in other hospitals in the hopes that you will pick up some of their efficiency tactics."

Max opened his mouth to form what Connie assumed would be a rather insulting reply, but Robin poked him in the ribs before he could so much as utter a word.

"And when do we leave? Are we all planning on walking out of here in a single file line with our packed lunches like school children?" Rita said in what sounded like the most condescending tone she could muster.

There were several murmurs of laughter in the crowd, and the confident smirk Connie had had plastered on her face for the entirety of this meeting slipped a little.

"You will be taken out in small groups over the next few weeks. The rota will be posted at the end of this shift. Those of you that leave will be temporarily replaced by agency staff." Connie replied.

"And if we refuse?" Called out Lofty from the back.

Tess stopped staring the ceiling and, along with many others, focused her attention on Lofty. A challenger. Connie's lip curled. Looks like some of those retorts she had planned would be useful after all.

"You are, of course, fully within your rights to refuse this opportunity. However seeing as hospital funds have covered the cost of your accommodation, as well as the CEO personally taking time out of his busy schedule to arrange this experience you will have to cover the hospital's expenditure yourselves, as well as pay a cancellation fee."

Lofty shuffled awkwardly before asking Robin what that meant.

"It means if we don't go we'll have to pay for wasting their time." Robin replied in an irritated tone.

Tess, who's expression had suddenly changed from uninterested to hopeful at the mention of resistance, quickly returned her gaze to the ceiling. Connie sensed a victory, and her confident smirk returned.

"And who exactly thought this brilliant scheme up?" Said a voice from the back.

Once again Connie had gotten ahead of herself, and her grin evaporated.

"Charlie. I thought Tess told you that you didn't need to be at this meeting. You are exempt from these trips given-"

"Given the fact you're trying to give me the boot," Charlie interrupted, "That didn't answer my question."

"It was a mutual decision made by myself and several other members of the board, with input from our CEO." Connie replied with more than just a hint of a frown upon her face.

"So you're telling us that you've made a decision about where they get to spend two weeks of their lives without any input from the shop floor? Come on Connie." Charlie scolded.

"I'm trying to do what's best for this department and this hospital!" Connie bit back.

"Doesn't look like that from where I'm standing." Charlie countered, "Sounds like this scheme is more about benefitting you and your career and we're just being forced to go along with it."

"I would never force anyone in this room to attend, Charlie," Connie said simply, regaining some of her composure, "and I resent that insinuation. "Furthermore you are, as I've already said, exempt from this meeting."

Charlie rolled his eyes and looked over at Tess, who looked worriedly back. She was clearly hoping Connie wasn't going to reprimand him. Though she did consider this for a moment the consultant changed her mind. She had bigger fish to fry.

"Now. If you have any questions please direct them towards Tess, as I have, as I'm sure all of you do also, plenty of work to do." Connie said, turning on her hells and walking into her office.

As soon as the crowd outside her door disbanded Connie allowed herself to breathe. Charlie could be a problem in future if he didn't keep his open disdain for her leadership style in check. It's a good thing he was retiring soon, and at that Connie made a mental note to encourage Tess to speed up the process a little.

…

The rest of Connie's working day went by without issue, meanwhile Tess' was far from smooth. For the rest of that morning she had found herself drowning in questions and forms, meaning that she was pretty much rooted to reception for the remainder of the day.

"… and what happens if we come back from this _experience _without improving our skills? Is our evil overlord going to start making up reasons to sack us?" Lofty asked with a giggle from Robin at his new pet name for Connie.

"Lofty," said Tess in a disparaging tone, "Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Is he? Who knows what she's going to do next?" Demanded Max before turning to face Noel, "She'll probably give us the boot on sight if we stick a toe out of line after our _training_. You're lucky you don't have to go."

"The only reason me and Louise can't go is because she couldn't find someone daft enough to want this job even on a temporary basis." Noel replied, "If she had I'd have no doubt that we could be accompanying you lot to hell- sorry. I mean to your _exciting opportunity."_

"Noel!" Tess snapped.

"What? I apologised, didn't I?" Noel said, throwing his arms wide and turning to wink at Max who smiled.

"Well I think it's a good idea. This is a great opportunity to learn from the best in emergency medicine." Lily said matter-of-factly, having joined the group of nurses and doctors forming at reception.

"Of course _you'd_ think it was a good idea. Perfect opportunity to suck up to the boss." Caleb said in her ear as he walked by.

"That has nothing to do with it!" Lily snapped, "If you don't have enough brain cells to see that this is an opportunity to ensure that we excel at our jobs then that's your problem."

"Leave her alone, Cal." Ethan interjected before his brother could reply.

"What do you make of this, Tess?" Charlie asked as he passed her on his way out.

"I- What?" Tess asked, looking up at him with a flustered expression.

"Yeah, good point Charlie. What do you make Connie's plan, Tess?" Lofty asked.

"Yeah. Come on, Tess! Give us your verdict!" Robin chimed in.

Luckily for Tess Connie chose that exact moment to exit her office and walk over to reception with a piece of paper in her left hand. Tess, who was about to answer, quickly turned around and faced Connie with a slightly frightened smile on her face.

"Connie! I presume this is the schedule?" Tess said, more enthusiastically than she actually felt.

"Yes…" Connie replied with slightly narrowed eyes, "You will be attending in groups of three, though there are exceptions. Each group will head out as soon as soon as the group before them has returned, with the exception of the first group. You will all be given details of your accommodation in the post and via email and will be collected via taxi from your homes the day before you are expected to attend your chosen hospital. "

With her speech over, Connie left the sheet of paper she had been holding at the reception desk, to which most of the staff responded by gathering round and hunting for their names.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Ethan muttered, "first on the list."

"Well it looks like I'm not going for a while." Lofty remarked.

"I'm on this list too?!" Tess exclaimed.

"Great. Just great." Lily remarked, "First group to be heading out: Myself, Ethan and Caleb."

"Are you serious? I have to spend a whole two weeks with you two?! …ugh." Caleb replied, looking from Lily to Ethan and frowning.

"Oh believe me, I don't like this any more than you do." Ethan said to his brother with a stern look.

"Seconded." Lily said before stalking off.

"Have fun, mate." Max said, clapping Caleb around the shoulder and laughing along with Robin and Lofty.

Caleb watched Lily's retreating form and then turned his attention to his stern faced brother before replying, "That's not possible."

…

_**Thanks a lot for the reviews Mini Peacelet and Sophie and thanks to everyone who read the first chapter :) **_

_**I'll hopefully be able to update again in a couple of days time. **_


	3. Chapter 3

**Caleb, Lily, and Ethan**

However uncomfortable Caleb was feeling about his companions on Connie's scheme Lily could guarantee that she felt about a 100 times worse.

The taxis that Connie had sent to their homes had only taken the three of them as far as the train station, and the supplied train tickets took them the rest of the way. Lily had been sitting opposite what looked like two people gearing up for a reality TV show for the last hour of the journey, as the two brothers had been shouting symptoms at one and other and then each trying to guess in turn what the illness was.

Lily had at first found the competition rather amusing, though she would never admit it, as she had enjoyed the challenge of playing along with them in her head. But now, as the diagnoses got more confusing and somewhat improbable she was getting bored of the rivalry rather quickly.

"Ha! It's endometriosis! See? You can't keep up with me!" Caleb shouted triumphantly, much to the annoyance of everyone in the same carriage as them.

"That's stupid! Those symptoms fitted a whole array of diseases, endometriosis being at the bottom of the list!" Ethan protested, to which Lily rolled her eyes.

"Enough! You're disrupting the whole carriage with your childlike behaviour!" She snapped.

Both Caleb and Ethan fell silent for a moment, making Lily think that the pointless argument was finally over, but of course all good things must come to an (in this case abrupt) end.

"You're going to have to speed up if you want to keep up with me brother." Caleb snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ethan demanded, turning to face Caleb with a stern frown.

"It means that Connie wants to speed up your diagnosis speed, which is why you're with me and Lily: people who can actually function in an ED." Caleb replied with a grin on his face.

"What? Learn from the guy who thinks that the symptoms he just described fit endometriosis? Maybe it's you who should be learning from _me _and Lily."

"For goodness sake! We're not here to learn from one and other but from the world class hospital we're heading to and by the sounds of it both of you have a lot to learn!" Lily snapped.

Caleb and Ethan looked at one and other for a moment, and then back to Lily.

"Exhibit A." Caleb said after a moment's silence.

"What are you blabbering on about now?" Lily quipped.

"You're here for a reason too, Lily, and we know exactly why." Caleb replied.

"Oh, really? And here was me thinking I was babysitting!" Lily shot back.

"There you go again! You have no idea how to talk to people in a social setting, you're like a robot with two modes: Diagnose and insult!" Caleb retorted.

"Leave her alone. It's not like you're much better," Ethan said, "Though I'll spare the rest of the people in the carriage from knowing what your 'modes' are, but I'll give you a clue. One of them has a lot to do with women."

No one spoke for the rest of the journey.

…

The hotel Connie had chosen was nice enough, though unfortunately the three rooms she had booked for the doctors were next to one and other, and so Lily was forced to put up with the sound of childish squabbling while they unpacked and ate at a local restaurant.

This unfortunately didn't die down until the early hours of the morning, following Caleb receiving a dressing down from his brother about going out drinking on the eve of their first day. Caleb, of course, dismissed him completely in his drunken state and walked into his room and, by the sound of it, fell straight on his bed and was asleep in minutes.

The following morning the arguments had stopped for the time being at least, replaced by an awkward silence hovering between the trio as they sat in the hotel restaurant again and ate breakfast.

"Ugh…" Caleb muttered as he stared at his porridge, "I don't think I can eat this…"

"I'm not surprised." Ethan remarked simply before eating his last piece of toast.

"What time to do we have to be at the hospital?" Lily asked while sipping her orange juice.

"Around 9am," Ethan replied, "We've got around 20 minutes before we have to leave."

Around 30 minutes later following Caleb making a dash to the nearest bathroom and throwing up before buying some painkillers for his pounding head they were all seated in a taxi and heading straight to St. Martin's hospital. Lily was on her phone researching all she could about the hospital before they arrived, and by the time they had she had told them at least thirty desperately boring facts.

"… They also have a golf club, and all the senior members of staff told a tournament every year against neighbouring hospitals." Lily said as she, Ethan and Caleb walked up to the rather imposing looking building.

"Lily do me a favour and shut up. My heads pounding enough without you adding to it." Caleb moaned.

St Martin's was easily around 10 stories taller than Holby City was, and had a far more extravagant entrance complete with water fountain and small garden. As the three doctors walked through the automatic doors, which slid open soundlessly, a robotic female voice welcomed them to the hospital.

"Welcome to St Martin's hospital. Please use the map to the left of the entrance to find your way around." It said.

The trio walked over to the rather posh looking diagram of the complex and Lily quickly located the emergency department. It turns out that they had come through the wrong entrance, and so had to walk to the other side of the hospital through a small shopping area complete with card shop and several fast food outlets to reach their destination. As they walked past a restaurant that appeared to specialize in pizza Lily heard Cleb's stomach grumble and rolled her eyes once again.

After walking through another set of double doors in order to get into the ED, they were greeted by a far more familiar sight. Doctors and nurses were running around, moving patients who could walk into cubicles and wheeling those who couldn't and looked to be seriously injured into one of what looked like four separate emergency rooms.

As they looked around Lily noticed that this ED appeared to be around twice the size of Holby City's with around double and amount of cubicles and a significantly larger waiting area. They didn't get to stand and enjoy the sights for long, however, as a tall doctor with jet black hair and muscles that made it look as though he was a wrestler rather than a doctor stalked over to them with a thunderous expression.

"I presume you three are the doctors Connie Beauchamp has sent here?" He barked in a heavy Scottish accent.

"Yes. I am Lily Chao, this is Ethan Hardy and Caleb Knight-" Began Lily.

"You're fifteen minutes late!" He shouted.

A couple of nurses giggled as they went past.

"Sorry, we came through the wrong entrance and-" Caleb started.

"You!" The doctor yelled, walking straight over to Caleb and staring him directly in the eyes, "You dare turn up hung over to your first day? What kind of crap doctors has Connie sent us?"

Caleb backed away slightly, cringing at the man's bad breath, before saying, "I apologize. I went out for a couple of drinks to settle my nerves and-"

"Yeah, yeah I've heard it all before. And then the 2 drinks turned into 22, right? Don't BS me," He quipped, "And my name, since you so politely asked, is Dr Kieran Miller."

"Pleased to meet you." Ethan said in a feeble voice.

"Hmph. What a sorry looking bunch you are. No wonder Connie sent you. Get changed over there," He said, jerking his thumb towards the locker room, "There'll be some scrubs in one of those cupboards and then meet me at reception. We've got a lot of work to do."

…

_**Thanks to m-is-for-Molly-and-Manfield, LittleBooLost, CasualtyFanForever81 and the two guests for your reviews! Oh, and CasualtyFanForever81: Your typo made me laugh :P**_

_**I have the next chapter all written out so hopefully I'll be able to post that tomorrow or Tuesday- sorry if this chapter is a little boring, I promise the next one has a lot more drama (and is about 1000 words longer…). **_

_**Thanks for reading! :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Ethan hated giving a bad first impression. He didn't like Connie's scheme any more than he liked how much of an idiot his brother had made him look in front of Dr Miller, but he had resolved to do his best to improve on his skills as a doctor nonetheless.

The trio was now hastily shoving their belongings into the lockers with their names on, Caleb and Ethan's rights next to one and other while Lily's was on the opposite side of the row which was positioned in the middle of what resembled a changing room with the rest of the female staff's lockers.

"Well this is going to be a barrel of laughs." Caleb stated as he pulled a pale green shirt over his white one.

"We came here to work, not for a vacation." Lily snapped as she, too, got changed around the corner.

Ethan grimaced. He didn't mind being here with Lily and he could tolerate with brother for a while, but their bickering was another story.

"Can we please just try and get along?" Ethan pleaded.

"I can try." Lily said after a brief pause.

"Fat chance." Caleb muttered quietly enough so only his brother could hear him.

Ethan rolled his eyes. So much for that, then.

As they continued to get dressed Ethan turned his thoughts to the doctor it appeared they were working under, Dr Miller. Despite being relatively quiet in nature Ethan wasn't as easily intimidated as one may be forgiven for assuming, and though this man clearly had a loud voice and an equally as thunderous presence, he wasn't deterred.

Caleb was the first to finish getting dressed into one of their rather sickly covered new uniforms, and instead of facing the wrath of Dr Miller alone he hovered uncomfortably by the door, waiting for Ethan and Lily to join him.

A couple of minutes later and they were all ready to head out, though before pushing open the staff room door they did exchange worried glances and Caleb took a deep breath.

Dr Miller was standing to the left of the reception desk which was located at the other end of the emergency department, forcing Ethan, Lily and Caleb to trek through crowds of patients, doctors and nurses to the tall figure at the other end of the entourage.

As they walked a frown began to form on Ethan's face. Connie had said they were here to learn from the best, but aside from its size this ED did not look terribly different to the one that they usually worked at; Doctors and nurses running form patient to patient, endless streams of injured people meandering around, children screaming, drunk people swearing and of course as they drew nearer the blonde receptionist was getting abuse hurled at her left, right and centre.

"And what time to do you call this?" The stern-faced Doctor Miller demanded.

"Quarter to ten." Caleb replied coolly after looking at his watch.

"Don't be smart with me, boy. You three took half-a-flipping-hour to get changed into a bloody T-Shirt and a pair of elasticised trousers! What the hell do you think this is? A hotel?" He bellowed, attracting the attention of all the patients in the waiting area nearby.

"We apologize." Lily responded in a monotone.

"Oh you sounded very sincere." Dr Miller quipped sarcastically.

"With all due respect we came here to learn how to better our skills as doctors, not to be yelled at." Lily countered.

"No, you didn't." Dr Miller said with a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, what?" Caleb said with a frown, "If we're not here to improve ourselves then what are we here for?"

"Are you hung over, ignorant our just plain thick? If you don't know what it takes to be doctors by now, then you need to be sent back to medical school, and not be traipsing around my ED," Dr Miller said in an exasperated tone, "What the hell has Connie sent me? Three idiots? You're not here to become better doctors. You're here to become better _ED _doctors."

"What's the difference?" Ethan asked, his facial features rearranging themselves quizzically.

Dr Miller sighed and placed a hand on his forehead before looking briefly at the ceiling and muttering something under his breath.

"Look," He said after a long pause, "I don't know if you three are having an off day or you're just as dumb as you sound, so I'm going to explain this to you as simply as I can. The Emergency Department of a hospital is probably one of the most intense places you can be. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you've all passed enough tests in university to call yourself doctors and you all have some experience under your belt treating patients in an emergency situation. Connie had sent you here because she wants more than that. She doesn't just want to able to work in an ED, she wants you fully prepared for every eventuality. It's volatile down here- you never know when the next RTA is going to be called in."

"So we need to be more than competent, we need to be exceptional." Ethan summarised.

"Good to see one of you gets it." Dr Miller said with a nod towards Ethan and a stern look at Caleb who responded with a roll of his eyes as soon as their temporary boss wasn't looking.

"So where do we start?" Lily asked as she tapped her feet on the ground- a clear indication of her impatience.

"Lily Chao?" Dr Miller said, directing his attention to her.

"Yes." She said confidently.

"Do you know what Connie wants you to improve upon?" Dr Miller asked with raised eyebrows.

"She's a good doctor but couldn't be empathetic to save her life." Caleb quipped with an evil grin.

"Shut it," Dr Miller snapped, "But… yes. That sounds like the general gist of what Connie was telling me about you."

"I disagree." Lily stated.

"Elaborate." Dr Miller responded, his eyebrows even higher than they were a minute ago.

"I am a good doctor. I possess all the knowledge I require to treat patients quickly and effectively and I have adapted well to an ED environment. I don't feel as if I have anything more to learn in terms of ensuring that I am performing at my best." Lily replied.

"Prove it," Dr Miller responded a split second later, "Over here."

He motioned for the trio to follow him over to the cubicles and quickly drew back the nearest blue curtain. They were presented by a heavily pregnant woman, 8 months at the earliest, lying on the trolley covered in digs and bumps with an ultrasound machine standing ready nearby.

"Helen. Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm handing your care over to Dr Chao here," Dr Miller said in a surprisingly pleasant tone compared to the gruff dressing down the three doctors had received a moment earlier, "Dr Chao. Show me what you can do."

Lily immediately made her way to the pouch in which the woman's notes were situated at the end of the trolley and buried her head within them. Around thirty seconds later she looked up at the patient, frowned, and then returned to her reading.

"What happened?" Lily demanded after a full minute of silence.

"Wha- what?"

"How were you injured?" Lily snipped.

"I was crossing the road and a car came out of nowhere and-" The startled woman began.

"So you were hit by a car?" Lily quipped.

"N-no... I-I managed to get out the way but I tripped and fell on my stomach and-"

"Helen I'm going to use this ultrasound machine to check if your baby is okay." Lily stated moving over to the machine and placing gel on the woman's exposed, and slightly bruised, stomach.

Helen flinched and the coldness of the substance and cringed at the ultrasound device being pressed onto her tender stomach.

"You're baby is fine." Lily stated after yet another lengthy silence.

"You're sure?" Helen said, exhaling a breath it looked like she had been holding since the accident.

"Yes. You were extremely lucky; however I wouldn't count on being this fortunate in the future."

"What do you mean?" The Helen asked.

The small amount of colour that had returned to the young woman's cheeks upon discovering that her baby was fine drained away almost instantly. Ethan turned away from the cringe worthy scene and directed his attention to Doctor Miller. As Ethan had feared his forehead was crinkled thanks to how aggressive his expression had suddenly become once more, his face transitioning from a pale pink to purple.

"You should be more careful when crossing roads. Did anyone ever teach you the green cross code?" Lily scolded.

Helen was about to answer when Dr Miller cut in with a sharp tone, "Helen I will be changing your doctor from Dr Chao here to Dr Knight. Dr Chao, come with me."

Ethan considered staying with his brother for a moment and making sure he didn't screw up thanks to his still hung over state, but thought better of this once he got a glimpse of Dr Miller's now irate expression.

"Are you trying to get a lawsuit thrown your way?" Dr Miller yelled once they were back at reception.

"I'm sorry?" Lily said, clearly startled by the outburst.

"Idiot!" Dr Miller bellowed, "You treated that woman like it was her fault for nearly getting knocked down! It's not your job to judge patients; it's your job to treat their injuries and handle their care with the respect they deserve!"

"If she had been more careful when crossing the road then she wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place!" Lily countered, raising her voice to match Dr Miller's.

"The driver of the vehicle that nearly hit her is over there," Dr Miller snapped, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, "He's four times over the legal limit."

The man Dr Miller was pointing to was currently struggling against the two porters who were trying in vain to get him seated in a wheelchair. He was shouting ever curse word under the sun at everyone who walked by, but only half of what he said was audible. The other half was void of any sense thanks to his intoxicated state.

"That man drove the wrong way up a one way street and onto the high street where Helen was crossing. She didn't think to look in the direction that man came from because he wasn't supposed to come out of that road the way he did." Dr Miller spat.

"I… I wasn't in possession of all of the facts! I wouldn't have judged her so harshly if I had known-" Lily protested.

"Stupid woman! You shouldn't have judged her at all! That isn't your job!" Dr Miller yelled.

"Ok she gets it! Leave her alone!" Ethan countered in a vain attempt at coming to her aid.

"What are you exactly? Her mouthpiece or her boyfriend?" Dr Miller quipped, "This sorry excuse for a doctor could have just caused a serious legal issue-"

Before Dr Miller could finish the latest chapter of his rant Lily ran straight past Ethan and charged out of the double doors before turning left and heading out of sight. Ethan faced DR Miller. He knew on some level that everything Dr Miller had said was right about Lily, but yelling at her up until the point where she snapped and run out of the room was not the correct way to deal with this.

"Well done." Ethan said, throwing his arms wide and plastering a fake smile on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Dr Miller demanded.

"Now I see why this ED has such as good reputation. Your staff are scared of you." Ethan said simply.

"What are you waffling about?" Dr Miller demanded, apparently amused by Ethan's surprisingly calm outburst.

"You maintain your authority through fear. If your staff are fearful of you then they are less likely to step a toe out of line- am I right?" Ethan responded.

"Dr Chao deserved everything she just got. If she is stupid enough to think that-"

"Dr Chao isn't stupid. She's a very bright doctor who just needs a little guidance in the social skills department when it comes to patients. All your little rant did was make her feel useless when your job is to teach us. How, in any way, is what you just did helpful? Oh wait. Don't answer that. You get to install enough fear in her and make an example of her actions to ensure that your position as the big scary boss is maintained." Ethan chided.

"Don't you question me, I've been a doctor for more years than you've been alive!" Miller shouted, drawing himself up to his full height.

By this point a rather large crowd had gathered around the duelling doctors, Caleb, having finished with Helen, being among the group. Many of the staff were looking at Ethan in awe, while many of the patients looked outraged: these doctors were supposed to be healing the sick, not arguing amongst themselves.

"I doubt you've been in charge of this ED for as long as that, though, or working in one for very long either. Otherwise you would have realised that every nurse and doctor and ambulance staff member makes up part of a very big team, a team that can't function if they're only doing their jobs well out of fear. You need to have the respect of your staff."

"Listen to this guy trying to teach me how to run my own department! What in the hell are you talking about?" Dr Miller asked with a laugh, trying, and failing, to get the crowd on his side.

"If you don't understand I'm not going to waste any more of my time explaining it further to you. I'm going after Lily." Ethan stated, and with that he rushed through the crowds and went after his friend.

Ethan only had one thought as he searched for his friend: He was never going to complain about Connie being a harsh boss again, and had a sneaking suspicion that neither Caleb nor Lily would be either.

…

_**Thanks to the two guests, Clara, m-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield and LIttleBooLost for the reviews! **_

_**I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story :)**_

_**Clara: Connie's going to be making her appearance once again very soon and I agree with you and the guest who mentioned it- last Saturday's episode was great apart from that very sad ending :(**_

_**To the guest who wanted Lithan to happen… keep reading ;)**_


	5. Chapter 5

It took Ethan nearly half an hour to track down Lily, who had ended up near the fountain at the front of the hospital. She was perched on the seating that surrounded the fountain, leaning forward and staring at her shoes with her hands clasped in front of her. As Ethan approached she didn't look up, but soon made it clear that she was aware of his presence.

"Go away." She said quietly.

"Not a chance." Ethan replied as he took a seat next to her.

"Please, Ethan! I just want to be alone!" Begged Lily as she turned to face him.

The sight of tear marks running down her face along with red, puffy eyes made Ethan's temper rise all over again. Dr Miller wasn't fit to lead an Emergency Department.

"I think being alone is the last thing you need right now." Ethan stated calmly as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

To her relief she didn't even attempt to shrug him off, instead she appeared to resign to the fact that he was staying and instead decided to invest her energy in blowing her nose with the tissue that turned out to be pressed between her clasped hands.

"I just can't do this!" She sobbed after a lengthy silence, "I don't know what's wrong with me! I just can't express empathy towards patients…"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Lily," Ethan said firmly, "Miller's wrong. You're not an idiot."

"I know that… But how am I supposed to do my job properly if patients feel like filing complaints within the first five minutes of me treating them?" Lily moaned.

"Lily your heart's in the right place. You said what you did to Helen out of concern for both her well being and her child's, but you need to work on the execution." Ethan said supportively.

"How?" Lily asked with every trace of sadness gone and replaced by an eagerness to learn.

"Practice." Ethan replied with a smile.

"Ethan I treat patients for most of my working day and I haven't improved my people skills one bit!" Lily protested.

"There's a difference between repeating the same action over and over again and replacing that action with something new and better." Ethan countered.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, intrigued once more.

"Lily you use the same people skills you always have every time you deal with a patient, am I right?"

Ethan paused and she replied with a nod, and so he continued, "See, that's the problem. You're expecting something to change when you're not actually doing anything to illicit change. You need to watch how other doctors and nurses deal with patients and learn from them instead of repeating the same actions over and over."

"I understand you." Lily said after a moment of contemplating this.

"The only way of improving our skills we currently have it getting back in there and showing that arse of a boss that we _can _actually do our jobs." Ethan stated.

To Ethan's surprise Lily started giggling.

"What?" He asked with a confused smile.

"I've never heard you call someone an arse before." She said with a grin.

"I don't make a habit of it." Ethan responded, his smile widening into a grin also.

"Ethan?" Lily said after another lengthy silence.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks a lot." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

Ethan, stunned at the gesture, only registered Lily standing up with her hand held out for him to take after she called his name once again, to which he responded by smiling and allowing her to lead them both back into the ED and, regretfully, Dr Miller.

…

As she leant back in her executive chair Connie felt, for the first time in a while, like her ambitions were no longer out of reach. Caleb, Ethan and Lily were basically her guinea pigs, and Connie was itching to see the results of her plan.

She had been toying with the thought of calling Kieran Miller and getting an update for the last couple of hours or so but had, so far, restrained this impulse for two very good reasons. One, her three doctors had only just arrived and needed today to get to grips with their temporary place of work before any substantial report into their progress could begin. Two, Kieran Miller had been nursing a crush on her since they had first met a decade ago, and the feelings were not mutual. Connie worked under him for a while and found his leadership style too aggressive, even for her tastes. Though she had no doubt that he was a fantastic tutor she didn't think much of him as a human being, and so had only really called him to use his ongoing infatuation with her to her advantage. She may not agree with his leadership style but Connie couldn't deny that he kept his ED in good shape, as shown by his place of work's position on the league table.

The chiming of her mobile roused her from her thoughts. Connie's contentedness slipped a little as she fumbled around in her jacket pocket for the tiny device, as she wasn't expecting any calls. A creeping sense of dread suddenly overcame her as she looked at the caller ID and saw Dr Miller's name glaring back at her.

"Kieran. How nice to hear from you!" Connie said, praying that the cringe that currently inhabited her features wasn't audible.

"Hello, Connie. Quick question." Dr Miller said in the stern voice she usually heard him save for berating underperforming nurses.

"What is it?" Connie replied quickly as she tried to maintain her cheerful bravado.

"What kind of second rate stock did you send me?" He demanded.

"W-what?" Connie asked, taken aback.

"I just had one of your doctors give me a dressing down after me telling off his colleague for terrifying my patient!" The doctor shouted down the phone, making Connie flinch.

"If Caleb Knight is causing trouble then-"

"Oh no, aside from turn up hung over that one hasn't done much to annoy me. It wasn't him, it was the other one. Ethan Hardy. Is Chao is girlfriend or something?"

Connie sat in her chair without moving or speaking for several moments. Ethan was causing trouble?

"Tell me exactly what happened." Connie said with her brow furrowed so deep she looked about twenty years older.

And so Dr Miller told her everything. How Lily had completely failed to show the slightest shred of empathy while dealing with a heavily pregnant patient, how Ethan had attempted to defend her and in the meantime had taken it upon himself to take Dr Miller's pompous arse down a peg or two, and then how he had ran out of the department after Dr Chao. Naturally Dr Miller, in spite of his apparent anger couldn't resist a not so subtle hint that he was still carrying a torch for her though this apparently went way over Connie's head. She had bigger problems.

Connie sat in her chair for a moment barely moving or breathing. Tess knocked on the door and came in but upon seeing the expression on Connie's face did a double take and went straight back out again.

What on earth were the three of them playing at? Caleb decides that drinking before is first day is a good idea? Lily storms out and Ethan…. The usually quiet and polite doctor launched an attack on his temporary boss. Were they _trying _to make Connie look like she was running a zoo instead of a hospital or was that just an added bonus with the primary aim being to cause mayhem?

Whatever the answer was, Connie wasn't going to stand for it.

…

_**Thanks to the guest, Becs2202, m-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield, LittleBooLost and Charlibear13 for the reviews and thanks to everyone else for reading! **_

_**I'm currently redecorating my room so I don't have a lot of writing time, sorry about the delay! **_

_**So Caleb and Connie have quite a few fans…**_


	6. Chapter 6

Caleb was in shock. He could still remember the days when his brother would stand up in chemistry way back in high school and tremble so much he could barely say a word and now he's launching full blown attacks at superiors? That's quite a turnaround.

Not only that but the way he spoke about Lily, not so much what he said but how, suggested to him that there was something else going on between those two, even if they weren't aware of it at the present moment themselves.

Dr Miller had retreated into his office and was straight on his phone, and Caleb had no doubt that Connie was on the other end. Now they were all screwed and since his company had buggered off Caleb was the nearest target for his boss's anger. Caleb made a mental note to _thank _both of them when or if they returned.

For the moment all Caleb could do was stand there looking like a very awkward statue and ignore the bizarre looks he was getting off of nurses and patients alike.

"Excuse me?" Asked a very short blonde nurse, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hello." Caleb said as he turned to face her.

Caleb did a double take as soon as he did. This woman was just his type, albeit a little shorter than he usually went for.

"You're with those two doctors who were arguing with Dr Miller, right?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah. Dr Hardy is my brother." He replied, looking for an angle to flirt with her.

"Well we," She said, gesturing to the group of nurses who were watching the conversation intently nearby, "We wanted to thank your brother. That's the first time anyone has had the guts here to stand up to Dr Miller and tell him exactly what we all thought of him."

"I'm glad my brother was able to help." Caleb replied with a smile.

Caleb's smile quickly widened. This nurse was _exactly _his type, only problem was that she seemed more interested in Ethan than the dashing doctor standing in front of her. Time to turn on the charm.

"You know I would have spoken up myself but my brother got there first." Caleb said coolly, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"Oh, really? Was that before or after you recovered from your hangover?" Said a nurse in the group who Caleb recognised as one of the two nurses who laughed at him earlier.

Caleb could feel his face growing hot, though thankfully all the suddenly unwanted attention he was receiving was quickly diverted by the entrance of Ethan Lily, whom Ethan saw quickly let go of each other's hands before the gaggle of nurses turned around.

"Where's Dr Miller?" Ethan asked Caleb after walking up to the group.

"In his office." Replied one of the star struck nurses.

"Probably on the phone to Ms. Beauchamp." Caleb added with a stern look at them both.

"We need to speak to him, now." Lily stated, having apparently regained her bravado.

With that she marched over to the door of his office and knocked twice, to the chagrin of both Ethan and Caleb who were not in the mood for round two. Dr Miller stepped out a moment after she knocked and looked about ready to explode.

"So you're back," He stated in a disturbingly calm manner, "And I see you bought your little mouthpiece along with you."

Dr Miller glared at Ethan for a moment before turning his attention back to Lily as she said "I would like to apologize for my lack of tact with my patient."

"You're too late," Dr Miller stated with a evil grin, "If you were trying to get in my good books before I went and ratted you out to Connie then you just wasted your breath."

"That wasn't the reason I came to speak to you at all-" Began Lily with a frown.

"I don't want a loud mouth, a robot and a hung over idiot in my ED today. I've had about as much of you three as I can handle. Get out of here." Interrupted Dr Miller.

"Wait- what? You're sending us home like three year olds?" Caleb exclaimed.

"For today, yes. I want you back here first thing tomorrow- _on time,_" Dr Miller replied. "Now get out."

Ethan opened his mouth to protest at being called a loud mouth but quickly closed it again. Caleb knew why. He had no desire for round two with this guy, especially after how round one had ended. Instead the three doctors simply marched over to the locker rooms and shut the door behind them.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asked Lily as soon as the door shut.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Lily replied with a smile.

Caleb looked up as his brother to see a small smile on his features, too. Clearly Ethan approved of Caleb's concern for his colleague over him taunting her. Maybe a ceasefire would make life easier here, especially since they all had a common enemy.

"What are you guys going to do with the rest of your day?" Ethan asked, before turning to Caleb and adding "Please don't go drinking again."

"I've learnt my lesson." Caleb replied, throwing his hands up as though surrendering.

"I'm going to go and get something to eat. Do you want to join me?" Lily asked Ethan.

"Sounds good." Ethan replied.

Caleb knew why they weren't asking him. He hadn't really done anything other than insult the pair of them since they arrived and one act of concern for Lily wasn't going to change their opinion of him. Still, if he was serious about this ceasefire then this was a prime opportunity to mend bridges…

"Can I come along? I promise I won't act like a jerk anymore." Caleb asked.

Ethan and Lily appeared to consider this for a while, switching their gazes form each other to Caleb a few times before speaking again.

"You promise your days are insulting us are over?" Ethan said in a pleading voice.

"Cross my heart." Caleb replied.

"Really?" Lily asked in a tone drenched in scepticism.

"Yes," Caleb said forcefully, "After all, it looks like we have a common enemy in our new boss."

"What do you have to be angry with him about?" Lily asked with her eyes narrowed.

"The fact that he tried to make an example of my colleague and insulted my brother." Caleb replied, "Also, he's a jackass."

Lily and Ethan looked at one and other before laughing and nodding.

"Okay, fine. Let's all go get something to eat." Ethan said cheerfully, "Then we can draw up a plan of action as to how we're going to tackle this guy tomorrow."

…

_**Thanks to Becs2202 and Mini Peacelet for the reviews! **_

_**To those of you who wanted to see Caleb/Connie: Connie's going to be making her entrance next chapter! **_


	7. Chapter 7

Lily, Ethan and Caleb were ready. There was no denying that their shift was not going to be the calmest 14 hours they have ever experienced but all the same they had to do their best, and they at least stood a better chance at getting on Dr Miller's good side now that no one was hung over and Ethan had promised to apologise.

Instead of being fifteen minutes late and taking an age to get dressed, the three doctors soundlessly entered the ED around 20 minutes before their shift was set to begin and were fully dressed and ready to move about ten minutes before 9am.

"Well, well. Look at you three," Dr Miller said as soon as the three of them had entered his office, "There was me thinking I wouldn't be seeing you three again."

"I wanted to apologize for starting that argument with you yesterday. I shouldn't have undermined you." Ethan said calmly.

"No, you shouldn't have." Dr Miller agreed, "And if you do that again I'll be buying you a train ticket."

"Understood." Ethan responded quietly.

"As for you two- if you turn up hung over again and if you distress any more of my patients you will regret it." Dr Miller growled, staring at Caleb and Lily in turn as he spoke.

"We won't." Caleb said assuredly.

"We'll see about that." Dr Miller remarked.

Caleb, Lily and Ethan filed out of Dr Miler's office struggling to maintain the bravado they'd walked in with. He certainly had the ability to make anyone feel as though they had just been sucked into a black hole, and that was an ability everyone hoped was unique to him and not a trait of everyone who worked under him also.

Thankfully as they set to work it appeared that Dr Miller was the only one with the black hole ability, as everyone else seemed perfectly friendly. Ethan and Caleb were sent to work in the emergency room and were instructed to take the lead on any cases that came through the doors. Lily was sent to shadow the most senior clinician on staff: an eighty year old man by the name of Dr Steven Lance.

Why Caleb and Ethan were sent to the ED was quite clear to Lily. Ethan's diagnosis speed needed to be increased and in a high pressure environment such as resus there was no room for slowing down and taking a break to do some research, the diagnosis had to be accurate and made quickly. Meanwhile Caleb was working resus to ensure his accuracy was on point.

Lily couldn't, on the other hand, understand why she had been placed with a doctor more concerned with discussing the weather with his patients than actually treating them. She wanted to learn how to improve her doctor-patient skills, not befriend every person that walked through the door.

"..yes I agree, it's been a little rainy over the last few weeks…" Dr Lance said to only the second patient he'd seen in an hour.

Lily couldn't suppress a roll of her eyes, but soon found her attention snapping to a very familiar sound. High heels. More specifically, the exact sound and walking speed of Connie Beauchamp in high heels.

…

Connie's plan of action was simple: hop on the next train and berate her staff for showing up both her and the hospital. But first she was, begrudgingly, going to have to talk to Dr Miller.

As she headed towards the front of the hospital in her rather expensive car she attempted to ignore how grand the main entrance was compared to the rather dismal entrance holby ED had, but soon found herself staring at the archways and huge water fountain.

The fact that the ED entrance was no less grand also made her blood boil slightly: clearly this place had a lot more money to throw around. At least the interior, albeit larger, was relatively similar apart from the rather revolting coloured scrubs all the nurses and doctors were wearing.

As she headed towards what looked like Dr Miller's office she deliberately neglected to spare a glance at the open mouthed Lily, who was standing behind a doctor who looked like he had been around since the Jurassic period.

Connie located Dr Miller's office as one of two doors at the far end of the ED, one with a small plaque that indicated this was the staff room, and the other with a rather grand looking sign telling the reader proudly that this was the office of one Dr Kieran Miller.

Connie tried peering in through the closed blinds but she could only make out what looked like the outline of a person, two at the most. Instead of knocking and waiting for permission to enter Connie simply opened the door, and was greeted with a rather unwanted sight.

Instead of seeing a smartly dressed DR Miller sitting at his desk working Connie was greeted by the sight of his bare backside as he unclipped the bra of what Connie assumed, but didn't want to spend too much time thinking about, was a nurse. After attempting to wipe the look of disgust off of her face Connie cleared her throat loudly.

The effect was immediate: Both Dr Miller and the girl, who looked to be around half his age, wheeled around and the nurse let out a small scream and immediately started to gather her clothes up off of the floor, turning a lovely shade of purple as she did so, with Dr Miller struggling to pull his pants back up. After being greeted with the sight of the nurse's _asssets _as she bent down Connie quickly stepped out of the office and closed the door again, deciding to wait patiently outside and attempt to rid herself of that image.

Unfortunately she did not close the door in time for the two nurses who were standing nearby not to get a full view of what was going on behind the door, and both of them burst out laughing. Connie's lip curled. That'll teach him.

A full five minutes later the nurse burst out of the room after DR Miller opened the door as though she had been shot out of a Canon and Dr Miller grabbed Connie by her arm and pulled her somewhat harshly inside.

"Connie! How nice to see you! What can I do for you?" Dr Miller said in a bizarrely high voice when compared to his usually gravelly tones.

"How nice to see you too- with clothes on." Connie replied.

She enjoyed how red his face went at the remark a little more than she felt she should have.

…

_**Thanks to m-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield for the review! **_

_**Sorry if the last couple of chapters have been a little dull… I promise the next couple won't be :)**_


	8. Chapter 8

Now that Connie was done embarrassing Kieran Miller it was time to get down to get down to business. She had asked him for a blow by blow account of what happened yesterday and very quickly made a mental note keep her hands behind her back to aid resisting the urge to wring all three doctor's necks.

"…So then I sent them home. They turned up this morning and seemed a little more subdued thankfully, but I am still going to be having words with them later." Dr Miller finished.

"Where are my doctors now?" Connie asked as she flexed her fingers in pure frustration.

"Drs Knight and Hardy are in resus, Dr Chao is in cubicles shadowing our Dr Lance," Dr Miller replied, "Now Connie I know you're here on business but you never did tell me what your answer was to my dinner proposal…"

"I have to go and deal with my team." Connie replied as she made a hasty exit.

Connie heard Dr Miller step out from behind his desk, and to her dismay, caught sight of his shadowy figure tailing her out of the corner of her eye. As she headed over to the double doors that she assumed sled through to their resus her ears caught the exact sound she did not want to hear.

"… This cannot be a pneumothorax!" Caleb shouted.

"That's strange considering that's exactly what it is!" Ethan shot back.

Connie's face went from its usual pale colour to an angry red in about three seconds as she burst through the double doors.

"_What on earth do you two think you're doing_?" Connie yelled at the top of her voice.

"Con- Ms Beauchamp!" Caleb exclaimed.

"Do I have to ask you again?" Connie demanded.

"Ethan is misdiagnosing a patient." Caleb replied quickly before Ethan could get a word in.

Connie walked over to the patient and whipped Caleb's stethoscope off from around his shoulders. After conducting a brief examination of the patient, a 40 year old man with severe breathing difficulties, Connie rolled her eyes.

"Dr Miller. Would you mind taking over care of this patient while I deal with these two?" Connie asked but she did not wait for a reply before dragging both Caleb and Ethan out.

She next motioned for Ethan and Caleb to follow as she hunted down Lily and, after making her excuses to the elderly doctor she was shadowing, decided to make use of Dr Miller's now empty office.

"I am only going to ask this once so your replies better be good." Connie said in a deadly whisper, "What the hell were you trying to do yesterday?"

"I had a drink to steady my nerves and-" Began Caleb

"-I made a mistake with a patient-" Lily interrupted

"-Dr Miller upset Lily and I lost my cool-" Ethan said.

"ENOUGH!" Connie shouted, "In all honesty your replies were not going to change anything, I just wanted to see if there was any kind of reason, however pathetic, that could justify what you have done here in less than 24 hours. The three of you have jeopardised this entire scheme, I thought Dr Miller would do you three some good and all you've done is embarrass me. I'll be lucky if Guy Self doesn't pull the plug on this entire operation."

"We apologize-" Ethan began solemnly, however Caleb cut him off before he could finish.

"Hang on- you knew who were going to have to face that arsehole and you sent us here anyway?" Caleb asked in outrage.

"Dr Knight! Dr Miller is a highly respected member of this hospital-" Connie yelled, irate.

"He's a prat!" Caleb countered, "He spent most of his time insulting us instead of teaching us here yesterday-"

"And you don't think that had anything to do with you being hung over, Dr Chao's poor treatment of a patient and Dr Hardy's-"

"Dr Hardy's what? His willingness to defend a colleague?" Lily Chimed in.

"More like his willingness to undermine-"

"Oh for god's sake shut up!" Caleb exclaimed, "Do you not care about the fact that Dr Miller made your staff look like complete fools or the fact that he treats the people here like dirt? No. All you care about is ensuring your precious ED improves its reputation- screw anyone who doesn't do as you or that arse says!"

"ENOUGH!" Connie screeched, "Dr Knight you will get on the first train out of here and report to my office first thing tomorrow!"

Caleb stared at Connie for a full five seconds before turning on his feels and leaving without another word.

Connie was breathing heavily, her face now beetroot. Ethan and Lily appeared to know better than to speak at the moment; Connie felt as if they did she would rip their heads off. After a minute of focusing on her chest rising and falling she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"If either of you so much as entertain the idea of putting a _toe _out of line I will end your careers. Now get out." Connie said, once again returning to her deadly whisper.

Ethan and Lily left without another word, but before the door could close behind them Dr Miller stepped inside.

"Finally got you alone with no nurse in the way." He said with a devilish smile that made every trace if Connie's anger evaporate.

"Dr Miller can I help you? Is there a patient you need me to look at?" Connie said as professionally as she could muster with an icy cold shudder running down her spine.

"No, no. I handled that pneumothorax case quite well on my own without any help from your incompetent staff." Dr Miller stated calmly.

"My staff may be difficult but they are not incompetent." Connie stated, "I resent that accusation."

"Oh come on, Connie! I just heard you giving them a dressing down!" Dr Miller said with a smile, "I don't want to spend the afternoon talking about those idiots, let's talk about something more interesting..."

DR Miller began to advance towards Connie, placing his hands on her waist when he got close enough and moving in to kiss her. Connie rebuffed his advances immediately, pulling away and ordering him to stop.

"What? You can't seriously tell me you came all this way just to berate your staff- you could have done that over the phone!" Dr Miller exclaimed.

"I can tell you exactly that," Connie stated, "Not all of us get as, er, _distracted _as you appear to." Connie replied now she had a good couple of feet between herself and Dr Miller, she also looked at the desk that he and the nurse had been occupying not so long ago.

"I can't wait for you forever." Dr Miller countered as he turned pink at the suggestion.

"You don't need to wait for me at all." Connie replied, "I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole."

"Come, now," Dr Miller chided, "Hard to get's one thing but this…"

"Kieran listen to me! I will not, nor will I ever, do anything of a remotely romantic or sexual nature with you." Connie snapped.

"So you did seriously come all this way to berate your crappy staff?" DR Miler repeated.

"Yes I did actually travel the _shocking _distance of five whole stops on a train in order to speak to my staff who happening to be pioneering a very important project!"

"Hah! _Speak _to them? You just told them if they didn't improve their careers were on the line!"

"Judging by what I saw and moreover what you told me that seemed like the appropriate course of action!"

"You and I aren't so unalike, then." Dr Miller concluded.

"We couldn't be more different. You treat your staff like dirt." Connie stated.

"Right and you treat everyone working in your ED like they're the ruler of England."

"I discipline them where necessary, I don't 'discipline' to the point where they fear me." Connie retorted, air quoting the word discipline.

"Not you too with this whole _'my staff fear me'_ crap! I had enough of that from your idiot of a doctor Ethan Hardy!" Miller snapped back.

"None of my doctors are idiots." Connie stated coldly, "But I do wish the same could be said for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dr asked with a slight edge to his voice as he rounded to her.

Connie stared at him for a moment. He looked like a wolf with its hackles raised. He was poised to strike. For a moment Connie wondered if she had been too harsh with Ethan.

"No, no. Nothing." Connie replied, "Sorry I spoke."

"What were you going to say?" Dr Miller said in a voice that made the hairs on the back of Connie's neck stand on end.

"Kieran this conversation is over. I need to head back to Holby." Connie responded as she struggled to keep her voice level.

Connie made to walk around him and head towards the door, but Dr Miller grabbed her upper arm and slammed her into it instead.

"What," He said in a voice that made the impulse to scream or run so strong that Connie's mouth and feet almost took control themselves, "Were you going to say?"

…

_**Thanks to theverystuffoflife and m-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield for the reviews and thanks to everyone else for reading as always! **_

_**They'll be Connie and Cal (in some form) next chapter! **_


	9. Chapter 9

The entirety of the ED heard the slam. Caleb had been expressing his anger and frustration to Lily and Ethan just outside of the front entrance and it had sounded like it was next to them. Caleb's anger evaporated and for reasons that were not yet clear to him the hair on the back on his neck stood on end.

"What was that?" Ethan asked but before anyone had a chance to reply there was a loud scream.

The trio rushed back into the ED and saw a crowd gathering around DR Miller's office. Caleb rushed forward and pushed his way through the crowd in time to see Dr Miller towering over a bleeding Connie with his first raised.

"HEY!" Caleb bellowed.

He saw red and wasted no time prizing the door open and launching himself on Dr Miller, first pulling him away and then tackling him to the ground and punching him in the face several times. It took him a moment to hear Connie's voice.

"Caleb! Caleb stop! It's fine!" Connie yelled.

He stopped almost immediately. A dazed Dr Miller was lying on the floor with a broken nose and what looked like a concussion. Connie was lying some distance away sporting a bloody nose, a busted lip and a terrified expression.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asked in a hushed tone as he clambered to his feet.

"I.." Connie said quietly as she stared at Dr Miller.

"Get out," DR Miller muttered from the floor without opening his eyes, "Get the hell out."

Caleb wasted no time gently pulling Connie to her feet and leading her out of the office around Dr Miller who was making no effort to move himself. He then led her through the worried crowd over to where Ethan and Lily were standing.

"Oh my god." Lily exclaimed, looking her frightened boss up and down.

"Ethan pull back that curtain, Lily, fund the nearest sucher kit." Caleb ordered.

He led Connie over to the edge of the bed once Ethan had slid the curtain around so the entire cubicle was revealed and sat her down.

"Connie can you look at me?" Caleb asked softly as he pulled a pen light out of his pocket.

Connie complied, still looking very lost, and allowed her employee to shine the small torch in her eyes. Lily, having placed the sucher kit gingerly on the bed beside Connie now joined Caleb in his examination.

"It looks like you have a slight concussion." Caleb said gently, "Did you get hit on the head at any point?"

"I.. think… the door…" Connie mumbled, "C-cold…"

Connie began to shiver violently, prompting Ethan to take the blanket of the bed beside Connie's and hand it to Caleb who wrapped it around her.

"Dr Miller slammed her into the door; maybe she hit her head then." Offered a nurse who had just walked over.

Connie's shaking increased to the point where it was violent.

"Shock," Lily stated, "We need to-"

"I know what we need to do!" Caleb snapped.

"Can I do anything to help?" The nurse asked- the only one who was not now attempting to get Dr Miller onto a trolley.

"Yeah. Order a CT scan and help me get her comfortable." Caleb replied as he helped Connie onto the bed and got her to lie gently down.

"Caleb…" Connie muttered as he and the nurse placed a blanket over the top of her.

"Let me get you some pain relief." Caleb said as he made his way out of the cubicle.

"Caleb please.. don't go!" Connie said a few seconds before she fainted.

…

Connie's head was pounding and the whole world felt as if it was turning at a blistering pace. She didn't want to open her eyes, she didn't want to breathe, and yet she somehow found herself doing both.

She found herself in a dimply lit private room with a canula in her left hand. IT took her a moment it realize that there was a hunched over figure in the chair next to her bed snoring peacefully. Caleb. Of course.

"Caleb…" Connie muttered.

He didn't move.

Connie winced and felt her lip. Upon discovery that that it had been stitched up Connie felt her arm and sighed at the small needle hole she found. They had given her pain relief and by the feel of her lip, head and nose that had been a while ago. Time to wake up Caleb.

"Dr Knight!" She said a little louder and brisker in an attempt to coax her usual bravado out.

"Hmm?" Caleb muttered as he lifted his head and then upon noticing Connie staring at him exclaimed, "You're awake!"

"What hospital are we in?" Connie demanded, wasting no time with pleasantries.

"St Martin's. I tried to get you transferred but the on call doctor said that he wasn't comfortable moving someone who sustained a head injury." Caleb replied, a little dazed.

"Get me out of here." Connie stated as she pulled her canula out, wincing slightly at the sharp pain, and made to swing her legs off of the bed only to find Caleb blocking her way.

"Connie you should really wait for clearance from the doctor that you can move-"

"I _am _a doctor!" Connie snapped as she shoved him out of the way.

Caleb decided not to argue anymore with her and instead helped Connie slide off the bed and supported her waist as she stood.

"Connie the police want to speak with you about what happened." Caleb said as she forced him to walk her to her neatly folded clothes on a chair near the door.

"They can talk to me when I'm back in Holby." Connie replied dismissively

Connie yanked herself out of his grip and motioned for him to leave the room while she got dressed. After a moment's silence Caleb sighed and complied, moving outside and quietly shutting the door. As soon as he did Connie let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and along with her breath came all the emotions she had been holding back.

At first there was a single tear rolling down her cheek, then suddenly there was a cascade accompanied by sobs and shakes. Connie never had any issue holding herself together normally, but today was different. Today she felt the need to drop her icy exterior and open up like a book, especially now there was no one there to witness it.

…

_**I have a goldfish brain… I meant to upload this yesterday -.- **_

_**Thanks to the two guests, waterlooroadfan2012, Minxheart, Rebloxic, LittleBooLost and m-s-for-Molly-and-Mansfield for the reviews!**_

_**I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying the story thus far and I hope you'll all continue to read and enjoy what comes next! :)**_


	10. Chapter 10

It took Caleb a while to realize what he was hearing was Connie. Sobbing. First she was asking him not to leave her and now she was crying behind a closed door. His boss, the person who was dubbed the evil overlord by several of her staff, was now falling apart. Caleb didn't feel anything other than pity.

At first he knocked on the door, but after receiving no reply he simply strolled in, expecting to see Connie making some attempt to hide her tears or making an excuse for them such as hay fever or shock, but instead walked in to find her kneeling on the floor with a mini waterfall making its way down her blotchy cheeks.

"Con- Ms. Beauchamp!" Caleb shouted as he knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Connie didn't reply, but upon hearing her name did make a visible attempt to reel in her emotions. She sniffed loudly and shrugged his hands away, using her forearm to wipe the tears that were still falling off of her features.

"I asked you to wait outside." She stated, though Caleb could tell she wasn't at all sorry that he had come back in.

"I'm sorry," Caleb said at first but added, "I wasn't going to let you sit in here crying if there was something I could do about it."

"Why do you care?" She snapped as she got to her feet with a slight groan.

"Why do you think?" Caleb retorted, "I would have thought I've made that pretty obvious by now."

Connie didn't reply, and instead drew herself up to her full height, so she was less than an inch away from Caleb's shoulder, and strode over to her clothes. Caleb saw through this shoddy disguise almost immediately.

"Nice try." Caleb said with a small smile.

"Dr Knight would you mind leaving while I get dressed?" Connie asked, but the way she said it made it all too clear that this was a demand, not a suggestion.

"No I wouldn't." Caleb stated, and with that he strode over to the chair he had been sitting on while he awaited Connie's return to consciousness and sat back down again with his arms folded.

"What are you doing?" Connie demanded.

"I'm sitting down." Caleb replied.

"I asked you to get out."

"I know."

"Then why are you sitting there?"

"I'm waiting."

Connie let out a withering sigh.

"For what exactly?"

"For you to stop pretending you're okay and tell me, or show me, how you really feel." Caleb replied.

"Dr Knight please leave." Connie demanded, jerking her finger at the door for effect.

"No." Caleb said simply.

"Now!" Connie firmly said, raising her voice slightly.

"Connie its okay to let out how you're really feeling." Caleb stated, standing up and taking a step towards her.

"Get out!" Connie snapped as she started to shake once again.

"It's alright…" Caleb murmured as he took another step closer.

"Please Caleb!" Connie cried, bursting into tears again.

Caleb strode across and room and wrapped his long arms around her, pulling her close as he did so. She felt small and warm and, even though she was crying and trembling, strong. Caleb could feel the anger he had experienced when he saw her on the ground welling up again.

If Kieran Miller came anywhere near her again he would pay the price with his life.

…

Lily and Ethan were at a loss. They couldn't very well go back to the hotel in good conscience after what had happened to their boss but at the same time there was no real reason for them to stick around. Caleb seemed to have everything Connie related handled and they had already given their statements to the police along with everyone else who was in the ED at the time.

So now all they did was simply sit outside the ward Connie was in and wait for any news about either Dr Miller's arrest or Connie.

"You're quiet." Lily stated after several hours of silence.

"So are you." Ethan replied sleepily.

"Should we head back to the hotel? It's 3am." Lily asked after yawning.

"You can. I'll stay here." Ethan replied.

"No.. I don't really want to go back alone, not after today." Lily responded awkwardly.

"Of course. I'm sorry I didn't think," Ethan said politely, "Would you like me to take you back?"

"No, no," Lily replied waving a dismissing hand, "If you're good here then so am I."

"If you change your mind just let me know and we'll leave." Ethan said with a smile.

Lily nodded and for a few minutes everything returned to silence, Lily and Ethan occasionally glancing at each other and smiling with a slightly red tinge to their cheeks when they caught each other staring.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Lily asked after a while, jerking her head towards the private room Connie was in.

Ethan appeared to consider this for a moment before replying, "If you'd asked that question about anyone else I wouldn't have been sure but Ms. Beauchamp is tough. I'm sure she'll pull through."

"If she won't on her own I'm sure Caleb will pull her through it." Lily replied after nodding.

"Yeah, at least if his behaviour ever since he saw her being attacked is anything to go by." Ethan said.

"It looked to me like there was something more going on than simply caring in the context of her being our boss." Lily stated.

"You too? They way he acted in the ED, when he refused to help… Does my brother have romantic feelings for our boss?" Ethan asked to no one in particular.

"I think so." Lily replied.

Ethan didn't speak for a while, instead sitting with his brow furrowed- apparently lost in thought. Lily sighed. He and his brother couldn't be more different. While Lily wasn't exactly fond of Caleb but at the same time they had called a ceasefire and she couldn't help but wonder if he was getting himself set up for a broken heart.

His musings were cut short however by a scuffle outside near the stairwell. Lily and Ethan got up and looked round the corner and were greeted by a wholly unwelcome sight.

There was Dr Miller struggling against five men in an attempt to reach the ward Connie was on. His face was a deep purple, his eyes bloodshot, and along with his creased shirt and trousers and scruffy hair he looked deranged.

"Get OFF of me! That crazy BITCH and her sidekick are going to pay for ruining my career!" He bellowed.

Ethan and Lily rushed forwards and tried their best to aid the effort of holding him back, but his enraged strength was terrifying. He broke three of the seven person grip and hurtled down the corridor towards Connie and Caleb at breakneck pace, shouting what sounded like the war cries of a mad man as he went.


	11. Chapter 11

In a few years when Caleb would come to look back on this situation with mixed emotions he would review the following few seconds with the utmost scrutiny, but as of right here right now it was all about survival.

In a way both her and Connie were lucky that Caleb possessed such sharp hearing and a keen mind, as he heard the misplaced sound of a heavy footed person and the bewildering screams he was emitting running full pelt towards them before Connie came to acknowledge it, and was able to quickly throw his weight against the door and stop Dr Miller for charging in like some kind of medieval battering ram. However this also meant that Caleb took the full force of a 200 pound man's considerable charge straight onto his left shoulder, and a loud cracking sound confirmed to him what he already knew, that being that his left shoulder blade was almost certainly broken, at the very least severely dislocated.

Upon hearing his cry of anguish Connie rushed to help her employee hold the door firmly closed despite the man-mountain on the other side attempting to pummel it in, shaking her head to remove the tears from her now evaporated crying spree as she did so.

"Can't hold it…." Caleb grunted through moans of pain.

"The let go! Please don't make your shoulder any worse!" Connie pleaded.

Caleb didn't verbally reply but the incredulous look he attempted through the grimace told her all she needed to know. Not a bloody chance. The door shook again as Dr Miller rammed up against it, and Connie didn't argue. That man could snap both of them like a twig.

Thankfully this hellish moment was fleeting, and the men on the other side of the door along with what sounded like Ethan and Lily were able to once again restrain him, but this time with the help of a strong tranquilizer and a policeman.

Ethan and Lily hastily stepped over the snoozing mammoth and made a beeline for their boss and Ethan's brother, and immediately set about examining his arm along with a very worried looking Connie in a hospital gown.

"I'm fine… Don't fuss!" Caleb bemoaned his brother and boss, who were both staring at him with looks of extreme concern as they rushed about examining him.

"Caleb you just saved my life from a madman-" Connie began

"-after punching him in the face a few hours earlier. We're going to fuss, get used to it." Ethan finished.

Caleb looked to Connie, expecting her to look enraged at the interruption, but instead found staring at Ethan as though his words slightly amused her. He looked from one to the other and then to Lily, who was standing in the doorway barking orders at nearby nurses after watching Dr Miller get wheeled away.

"You win." Caleb said, defeated.

He expected to feel somewhat irritated at the prospect of being babied by his brother and boss, but instead found himself grateful that Ethan still cared about him after everything he had thrown his way and that Connie was willing to stick by him as he did her.

…

Now that all the chaos from earlier in the night had finally subsided and the sun was about to rise, Caleb almost felt optimistic that he would get back, along with Connie, his brother, and Lily, to Holby in (almost) one piece.

The police had been around earlier and took his statement along with Connie's and now Connie was standing vigil by his bedside, not unlike how he had earlier.

"And you're sure they gave you enough pain relief?" Connie asked for the fifth time.

"_Connie. _For the last time, YES!" Caleb exclaimed as well as he could manage in his drugged state.

With several scans taken and three different doctors, under the scrutiny of Connie, confirming the diagnosis Caleb was now being prepped for surgery as his severe dislocation required repositioning under anaesthesia. Mrs. Beauchamp had been a little too careful when it came to ensuring that the doctors and nurses responsible for his care were ensuring that he was not in any pain, and as such as decided that Caleb should receive the maximum amount of pain relief possible, which had the unfortunate side effect of leaving him feeling like he had spent the last ten years off his face on stimulants.

"Tired." Caleb muttered as Connie paced the room.

Her lip curled as she said, "Good. You'll be asleep soon anyway."

"Connie." Caleb murmured as he closed his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Connie asked, concerned, as she ceased her pacing and strode over.

"Do you think… We could have dinner?" Caleb asked quietly.

"Not right now, I'm afraid. You're going in to theatre." Connie stated with a small smile, apparently assuming he was delirious.

"Don't mean now… Mean when I get out of here… You never did.. Give me an answer." Caleb murmured.

"We'll see." Connie said with her smile growing a little.

"Please give me an answer…" Caleb murmured, "You never give me an... answer,,"

With that Caleb fell asleep and Connie was left staring at his closed eyes. Her smile transformed into a grin as she leaned in close to his ear and gave him her answer.

"You pick the time and date... And I'll be there."

After staring at his slumbering form for a moment she straightened herself up and contended herself with finding out where and when he was going to be having his operation, and if any heads had to roll before that happened. She walked towards the door but a sound behind her made her stop.

"It's a date, then." Caleb replied softly.

Connie didn't look back; she didn't need to. She simply smiled and walked away, intent on ensuring the operation went flawlessly so that Caleb's recovery time was minimised. She tried to pretend that this was her simply caring for one of her doctors, but in all honesty she wanted that date to happen sooner rather than later.

…

_**Thanks to PringleScoop, Waterlooroadfan2012, Mini Peacelet, Minxheart, Rebloxic, CBloom2, m-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield and the guest for the reviews and thanks for reading everyone (Well that took a while to type!) **_

_**I see some of you like cliff hangers while others hate them.. Personally I love them as much as I hate them, especially in TV shows! **_

_**I'm bringing in another character next chapter- any guesses who? **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**2 days later…**_

Following Caleb's operation and approximately 2 hour recovery from the anaesthesia he, along with everyone else, was given an all expenses paid trip back to Holby, courtesy of St Martin's CEO, whom as Connie wasted no time telling everyone on the journey home, was adamant that this fiasco did not reach the press and ruin the pristine reputation the hospital still had, though in truth Connie had been made aware of some other issues with the hospital and so this led her to believe that this reputation was hanging by a thread anyway.

Connie had instructed all three doctors to take a couple of days off and had asked them to meet up with her in the afternoon with the exception of Caleb, whom she had decided was too ill, but Dr Knight was determined to be a part of this anyway. However as soon as she had arrived in Holby she was immediately made aware of the fact that all was not well in her ED, and the tension among the staff was reaching breaking point.

"Connie I really think you need to address the staff." Tess stated.

Connie was once against sat on her chair looking like someone who had just been handed a salt lollipop. She didn't like the idea of 'addressing' her staff about this situation, and her first remark upon discovering that the entirety of the staff already knew about what had transpired at St Martin's was that the press have got nothing on Holby, for they still weren't aware of what had happened.

"Fine." Connie said after considering her options and realizing that she was backed up against a wall.

If she wanted Caleb, Lily and Ethan to return she was going to have to address what happened before rumourville got any larger, and so she stepped out of her office, of which Guy Self had accused her of hiding in since she returned, drew herself to her full height and walked over to where a crowd had gathered.

In truth she wasn't feeling 100%, but she wasn't about to let a serious case of nerves stop her from presiding over her ED like she had over the last few months.

"As I am sure you are all aware, a situation occurred at St Martin's hospital which culminated in myself and one of our doctors getting injured." Connie began, taking a break for effect and to read her audience's expressions.

Lofty, Robin and several of the other nurses, unsurprisingly including Charlie, did not appear particularly impressed with this introduction.

"There is currently an ongoing police investigation in to the matter and as such I am not permitted to say more than this, however there will be a meeting held between myself and the three doctors involved and the three doctors in question are more than welcome to share their accounts of what happened."

"So the management's remaining tight lipped but the lowly workers are allowed to say and so what they wish because if we say too much and get fired it's not as important." Charlie shouted from the back of the group.

Connie felt the same tension she did the last time Charlie cut in on a meeting.

"No, Charlie. Not at all. I'm saying that due to my position as the head of a department I am bound my certain legal ties that those of you in the room and working under me are not." Connie replied as calmly as she could, "I assure you that it is not my aim to get anyone fired."

"Then why are Lily and Ethan not here?" Lofty demanded, "Is that 'meeting' you mentioned so you can all get your stories straight and not tell us more than we need to know?"

"Any questions you have can be directed towards Tess after I am finished speaking here." Connie said, feeling tenser by the second.

"I don't have any answers, Connie! You haven't told me a thing!" Tess countered, forcing all the attention back onto Connie.

"Well then Connie? What's the answer?" Ash asked, raising his eyebrows.

Connie choked. She tried in succession to make a sound come out of her mouth, any sound, even if it wasn't a word, but found she could not even produce a whimper. She caught sight of Robin and Rita both staring at the small cut she had on her lip as a result of the ordeal she had suffered and started shaking.

"Connie you can't keep acting like we don't matter! We want answers about a situation involving several members of our team, excluding you, and you're acting like we don't have the right to know what happened? Come on!" Rita exclaimed.

"Enough!" Shouted a voice Connie had never expected to hear again in her ED.

Everyone wheeled around. A ripple of shock and awe made powerful waves through the ED upon the moment her voice sounded, and now as she walked over in her ever so confident way those ripples got stronger.

She stood beside Connie, not in front of or behind, showing that she was neither usurping her or allowing her to continue to choke and when she next spoke everyone listened and obeyed. Even through her fear and her staff's apparent hatred of her she saw something about this woman that made her stop and think.

"Connie has been through a lot in the last through days and you think that this in an appropriate way to treat her? She didn't _have _to come out and tell you anything about what happened, she could have just left you all guessing- as I know well from having her job she isn't obliged to tell you a thing and if you lot were acting this way when I was still in charge you wouldn't have found out a thing! You all work in an ED, you all know what kinds of pain victims of an assault go through and yet you're still hounding her? Your _boss? Come on!_"

Connie sighed in relief. As much as she loathed admitting it, Zoe Hanna was exactly the person she needed in her ED right now, even if she did object to being called a victim.

…

_**Haha most of you got it :) Though I can see why a couple of you thought it was Grace! **_

_**Thanks to M-is-for-Molly-and-Mansfield, Minxheart, Mini Peacelet, PringleScoop, Waterlooroadfan2012, Rebloxic and the two guests for the reviews and thanks for reading! **_

_**Updates for this story may be a little thin on the ground for a little while as I'm trying to write a book, I do have the next chapter of this story almost done but I'd much rather post it when I'm happy with it! **_

_**Until next time! :)**_


	13. Chapter 13

Zoe couldn't pretend that receiving a call from Guy Self wasn't the strangest event that had happened to her all year, but what made it more bizarre was the timing. She had been offered a position at a private hospital that paid nearly double what she had earned while working at Holby and was about to send an email to the CEO of that hospital when Mr. Self had phoned.

Of course being the glutton for punishment that she is she immediately accepted his offer to return upon hearing the woes that had befallen Connie and Caleb, and got the first flight back into town. Now, as she stood in front of her former team she realized why. Connie Beauchamp was in no state to be leading this ED if she couldn't even lead an address.

Zoe quickly took action upon finishing her speech and led Connie back into her office, shutting the door behind her and looking through the blinds, waiting until everyone had disbanded and were not listening to their conversation before she spoke.

"Are you alright?" Zoe asked with concern as Connie's usually pale complexion was now ashen.

"Fine. Thank you for the help out there." Connie replied as swiftly as always, though with a slight edge to her voice.

"What happened? I've never seen you look that out of place in front of my- sorry- your staff before." Zoe asked.

"I must be a little out of it, given everything that's happened." Connie replied, still not on top form.

"Well Mr. Self certainly seems to think so." Zoe quipped, ushering Connie into her seat and taking the one that was opposite her desk.

"What?" Connie asked.

"Guy called me in. He offered me a position back on this ED, said that you weren't fit to lead on your own and you needed assistance." Zoe said, scanning Connie's face for her reaction as she spoke.

"Oh he did, did he? What else did he say?" Connie asked with more than a hint of anger.

"He said that you're most recent scheme to increase the efficiency of your staff had gone awry and culminated in you and Caleb getting injured, leading him to believe that you are thinking more about yourself and your own career than you are this ED." Zoe recited.

Connie didn't reply straight away, instead stood up and walked over to the other end of her office and studied her staff bustling about outside.

"He's right." She said after some time.

"I beg your pardon?" A bemused Zoe responded a moment later.

"I didn't think that plan through as well as I had hoped. Guy is right. It was more about my personal career advancement than it was ensuring this ED ran smoothly. I needed Caleb, Lily and Ethan to showboat the scheme to Guy and prove that I had what it took to improve this ED but all I succeeded in was putting my staff in danger. I realize my mistake, and together I think we can fix it." Connie said, turning back around and facing Zoe with a fire in her eyes that made her uneasy.

…

Lily wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting when she walked through the ED doors with Caleb, who now believed himself to be sufficiently recovered enough to not need a sling, and Ethan, who had barely said a word all the way to Holby City ED, but it certainly wasn't to be ushered in by none other than Zoe Hanna and escorted to Connie's office like she was placing them all under arrest.

" As punctual as ever, I see." Connie remarked, looking at her watch with raised eyebrows.

"Traffic was bad." Caleb said in a vain attempt to excuse them being ten minutes late.

Connie apparently ignored this and the trio and Zoe to sit in front of her, after which she moved and perched herself on her chair.

"I am aware." Connie began in a tone that commanded respect, "That due to recent events you may all be wondering what will happen to Kieran Miller, as well as the project you were pioneering."

Lily and Ethan stared at one and other. They cared about what happened to Kieran Miller in the sense that they hoped he met a very sticky end, and were also praying that Connie's 'project' went the same way.

"Upon discussion with DR Hanna I have decided to cancel the project and Kieran Miller is currently in police custody after being charged with one count of assault and one count of attempted assault." Connie informed them.

"You've cancelled it? So no one else is going to get sent to a different hospital?" Caleb asked, surprised.

"That's correct." Connie confirmed.

"What about your plan to increase the efficiency of our department?" Lily asked.

"We're going to work," Began Connie, "As a _team_ to improve this department."

…

_**Thanks to SuranneKeeleyBeauchamp, JinxSpirit26148, Rebloxic, Minxheart, Pringlescoop, m-is-for-MollyMansfieldMealing and theverystuffoflife for the reviews :) **_

_**I am so sorry about the horrible update schedule- I will try and do better. **_

_**At the moment I am taking part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), which is a challenge to write 50,000 words in November, so as you can probably imagine I'm pretty snowed under! **_

_**Thanks a lot for reading as always :) **_


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